Former hip-hop artist Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, a member of the chart-topping 1990s group the Fugees (Photo by Bloomberg)
(June 15): Former hip-hop artist Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, a member of the chart-topping 1990s group the Fugees, met with FBI agents to try to learn the whereabouts of a Chinese dissident sought by the regime in Beijing, as well as details of his security arrangements.
The 2017 meeting was revealed in an indictment unsealed Monday, following the announcement last week of new charges against Michel and Malaysian financier Jho Low. The two were accused of illegally lobbying the Trump administration to drop the Justice Department investigation tied to the 1MDB global bribery scandal and expel a wealthy Chinese dissident from the US. The exile has not been identified by the Justice Department, but a person familiar with the matter has previously said it is Guo Wengui.
According to the indictment, Michel also lobbied the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents for the dissident’s return to China. Prosecutors didn’t indicate how Michel arranged the meeting in late June or early July 2017. Shortly after the FBI meeting, Michel directed George Higginbotham, a Justice Department lawyer who previously pleaded guilty to participating in the scheme, to meet the Chinese ambassador in Washington. Higginbotham told the ambassador that the US was working on the dissident’s removal and logistical details would be coming, according to the indictment.
A lawyer for Michel, Benjamin Brafman, declined to comment on Monday. He previously told Bloomberg News that Michel “intends to defend this case very vigorously” and expects to be exonerated.
Elliott Broidy, a fundraiser for former President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty last year to participating in the same illegal lobbying scheme but was pardoned by Trump. Michel was also previously charged in 2019 with seeking to illegally funnel millions of dollars of Low’s money into the 2012 US presidential election.
